Margo was tied up at the police station with Valerie, so a second coroner was called. This wasn't the primary coroner, but he sufficed when it came to releasing the scene. Kenzie got right to work.
As she was kneeling next to the body and examining it, Carson came forward and took a good look at the corpse. He then raised an eyebrow and said, " This breaks the pattern even more than hiding the body."
"How so?" Kenzie asked.
"I know who this man is. The other victims haven't been identified yet, but fingerprints have been taken and sent to the lab. This man is a local criminal, part of the crime syndicate. He's been running around with some lowlifes breaking into stores and stealing things. Even got away with a celeb's trophy. Glad we got it back."
"So you're saying this victim is a criminal, and he's well known?"
"Yeah, he's not the brains of the syndicate's operations but he's working his way up. We've been after these guys for months."
"Looks like someone did the job for you. Or it could be the same killer trying to throw you off. But there might be even more evidence on this body. I'll see if I can find anything distinctive."
Kenzie stood up and began snapping pictures. She also noted that this particular body was beginning to decompose. The pictures she'd seen of all previous victims indicated that they'd died somewhat recently. But this man had to have been dead for longer than a week. He'd been killed before any of the others.
Kenzie pointed this fact out to Carson, and he added it to his notes. He also added Kenzie's next discovery, that this body's throat had been slashed. There were no puncture wounds in the neck, only a jagged line cut into the flesh.
A transport truck soon arrived and the victim's body was loaded into the back when Kenzie confirmed that she'd gathered all possible evidence for the time being. The driver informed Carson that the body would be transported to the morgue to be analyzed by Margo. Carson nodded and the man climbed back into the truck and drove off.
Carson called Margo on his cell phone, and from the way he was wincing, Margo wasn't pleased. Not only did she have to come get her daughter who'd been skipping school, but now she had to perform yet another autopsy. And Carson even added that Kenzie wanted to talk to Valerie.
That part could have waited at this rate.
Still, what was done was done. Carson said that Margo would only allow Kenzie to talk to Valerie if both she and Carson were present. Kenzie agreed to the terms, mostly because she planned it that way from the beginning.
Finally, Kenzie and Carson headed back to the police station. Kenzie wanted to talk to Valerie as soon as possible, just in case her mother tried to give her a story to tell for the interrogation. It wasn't out of the realm of the possible, especially if her theories were right.
The police station was much quieter now that Valerie's shrieks had been stifled, and Kenzie followed Carson to an interrogation room. Margo and Valerie were waiting for her, both looking peeved.
Kenzie and Carson took the seats across from them and the questioning began.
"Valerie," Kenzie started, "Have you heard about all the deaths going on in Bridgeport?"
"Some question that is," the teenager replied with a snort. "It's all over the news. It's all anyone talks about."
"Do you have any idea why these bodies would be drained of blood?"
"Duh. A vampire's killing them, and then drinking their blood. How did you get a college degree if you can't even figure that out?"
"Valerie," Carson interjected, "let's stay civil here, okay? Ms. Howell is only here to help."
Valerie shrugged indifferently and Kenzie tried again.
"What about the history of Bridgeport? Has your mom told you about the legends of vampires having once existed here?"
"They're not legends. They're real. Vampires did exist in Bridgeport before, and they still do."
"How do you know that?"
"Hello! I just told you! It's all over the news! There's a vampire killing all these people so they can drink their blood!"
"Why would they leave the bodies out in the open to be discovered, though?"
"How would I know? They probably don't care about that, they just want to drink the blood and leave."
"I see. Well, I hear you also want to be a vampire. Why's that?"
"You have to ask? Because they're awesome! They get to live forever, they're super strong and fast, and they're usually even prettier than when they were just humans."
"They also can't go out in the sun."
"So what? This is Bridgeport. How often do you see the sun shining here? Besides, all it's good for is preppy girls who want their skin to be like an orange. It's totally overrated."
Kenzie glanced at Margo. She hadn't said anything since the interrogation had begun. But she did have one more question for Valerie.
"Valerie, how exactly do you become vampire? Do you just have to be bitten by one?"
"Not exactly. That's the old myth, but it's not true. Vampires can feed off humans, so if you got bit by one if they just wanted to feed, it wouldn't do them any good. The way it works is, you have to be bitten by a vampire and then drink its blood. It's like some old-school ritual. So even if you get bit, you don't get to be a vampire unless you drink the blood afterward."
"I see. You're quite the vampire expert."
"Of course I am. If I want to be a vampire one day, I have to know all about them."
"That brings me to a question for your mother."
Kenzie turned to Margo and asked carefully, "You believe in vampires. What do you think of your daughter wanting to become one?"
"Why do you care?"
"I'm here to find out what's going on in Bridgeport, so I'm just asking questions here."
"Look, all I ever wanted for my daughter was for her to be happy. If that means becoming a vampire, so be it."
"So...you don't have any qualms about your teenage daughter becoming an immortal blood-drinker?"
"Of course I have some qualms. I'd rather see her live a long and normal life, but her happiness is more important to me."
"Well, if you have qualms, and you're such a strong believer in vampires, you'd have good reason to try to convince her not to become one of those creatures."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm saying that, as the coroner, you'd know how to make bodies look like they were attacked by vampires. You'd also know how to hide any evidence that your daughter, who wants to become a vampire, might have inflicted."
Margo's eyes glazed over with fury and Valerie jumped up from the table so fast that her chair tipped over.
"How dare you!" she screamed. Kenzie winced. That girl had some lungs on her. "I may want to be a vampire, but I didn't kill anybody! And I know my mom didn't either!"
"Carson, that's it," Margo said as she also stood up. "This girl from hick town Riverview is making accusations about my daughter and me, and she has nothing to back them up with. I won't tolerate it. You tell her to pack her bags and go back home."
"Margo," Carson said, exasperated. "I can't do that. We're trying to solve a string of murders that might possibly be the work of a serial killer. Now, you have to admit, Ms. Howell brings up some good points regarding the evidence on the bodies and your daughter's...lifestyle."
"Kiss my butt!" Valerie yelled as she ran from the room, slamming the door behind her. Margo turned to Kenzie, who had stood up with Carson, her expression livid.
"You think you can just come here to Bridgeport and point fingers at people because of how they live and what they believe? You keep this up, and I'll personally sue you! Don't contact me or my daughter again!"
Kenzie was about to retaliate, but Margo didn't give her the chance. She turned on her heel and exited the room as dramatically as her daughter had.
Carson turned to her and said, "Ms. Howell, I appreciate the help you're giving us, but I have to draw a line here. I don't know who, or what, is killing all these people, but pointing fingers at suspects without any hard proof isn't going to help anyone out. So get some evidence before questioning anyone else."
Kenzie just closed her eyes and nodded before leaving. She was fuming inside, shaking from the confrontation. This was ridiculous. Questioning suspects was one of the main parts of solving a case. How was she expected to solve the case if she couldn't ask questions?
Trying to work off some frustration, Kenzie drove out of the city and into the more secluded residential area of Bridgeport. She parked her car near a park and began walking around.
She was so angry and frustrated that as she was absent mindedly pacing, she didn't notice the shadow above her. Of course, since Bridgeport was usually always surrounded by shadows, it wasn't that much of a surprise.
Still, when something descended on her from above and knocked her to the ground, she was so shocked and surprised that she didn't even have time to scream.
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